It is known to provide for merchandising systems that may be used for displaying and dispensing an article. Such merchandising systems do not realize certain advantageous features (and/or combinations of features). It is also known to provide for a merchandising system that may be used for displaying products in consumer settings such as grocery stores, retail outlets, shops, etc. Such known merchandising systems may be used to present, display and store products in fixed or limited spaces such as on shelves, in display cases, in cabinets, etc.
It is beneficial when merchandising an article such as a product to allow potential customers to view or handle it in a convenient and comfortable manner. Known merchandising systems may display products to a consumer by providing the products in inefficient configurations. Products and product containers come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and some products may be more difficult to merchandise (e.g., present for potential retail sale) than others. Within fixed or limited spaces, known merchandising systems may not be configured to optimize the presentation of such products to a consumer. Such known merchandising systems also do not always provide convenient ways for dispensing products, especially those with unique or irregular shapes. Ease of use can be an important concern for customers and store personnel. As is sometimes the case, product or container design may be dictated by considerations separate from the ease or difficulty with which the product may be presented.
Some known merchandising systems may not provide effective arrangements for displaying, storing and presenting articles. Some merchandising systems fail to provide adequate support for articles, as well as smooth, efficient sliding of the article along the length of the system. Some merchandising systems do not provide sufficient arrangements of advancing these types of articles along the merchandising system. Some merchandising systems do not provide strong and/or rigid support for articles. Accordingly, many merchandising systems may not provide articles in a straight, linear, or level arrangement due to sagging, deformation, bowing, deflection and/or movement due to the weight of the articles. In addition, some merchandising systems do not provide for a variety of differently sized articles and are not configured to operate with a variety of shelving structures. Some merchandising systems do not retain articles for proper dispensing. Some merchandising systems are not easily repositionable on a shelving structure. Some known merchandising systems are not configured for easy loading or removal of articles or for at least partially restricting movement of the articles along the system. In addition, some known merchandising systems are not configured to allow multiple products to be stacked on one another. Some known merchandising systems are not configured to prevent articles from sliding in an uncontrolled manner along the length of the system. Some known merchandising systems are not configured to prevent articles from tipping and/or falling from the system, especially during movement of the articles.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured for stocking, orderly presentation, and convenient storage of products with various shapes including shapes that may not be easily stored, presented, or displayed, such as products with uniquely shaped containers. It would also be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured for selective modularity in the construction and assembly of the merchandising system. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that allows for the construction and assembly of a merchandising system with any number of product facings, modules, compartments, etc. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that advances a product and/or allows a product to advance along a defined path. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that self-faces articles (e.g., allows articles to move to the front of the system after articles are removed). It would be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured to easily move articles along a path for stocking, aligning, and/or facing purposes. It would also be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that allows multiple products to be stacked on one another. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that is configured to at least partially restrict and/or restrain article movement in one or more level. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that can evenly distribute the weight of articles and/or products over the length of the system. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that allows for smooth, controlled, and efficient gliding of articles and/or products along the length of the system. It would further be advantageous to provide a merchandising system that prevents articles from tipping and/or falling when provided in the system, especially during movement of the articles.
It would be advantageous to provide a system that provides any one or more of these or other advantageous features.